Pawn

Ladies, stop a second.
Don’t hand over the jar,
when the lid won’t open,
or else

in five years it’ll be car keys,
then car. You’ll be stumbling,
wheeling a pramful, puzzled,
not running for the bus

because running was traded
two years before. Now,
let’s talk options: hit,
scold, smother it

with a towel and twist,
prise back with a spoon,
failing this, take a sharp knife,
stab it, listen to that hiss.

One more thing:
if you do pass the jar
when the lid won’t open -
remember, it was you
who loosened it.